Tag: justice

India’s Covid anguish fuels calls to release rights activists from jail

As the deadly Covid-19 second wave has engulfed India, and ripped like wildfire through its overcrowded, under-resourced prisons, there have been growing calls for those deemed political prisoners – the activists arrested as part of Modi’s vicious crackdown on dissent – to be granted the bail they have been repeatedly denied. The impact of the pandemic on… Read More India’s Covid anguish fuels calls to release rights activists from jail

Dilip

Pinjra Tod activist Natasha Narwal's father dies of Covid day before her bail hearing // That Monday will not come, Judge Sahib

NB: The whole world should be made aware that India’s criminal justice system is being reduced to a cruel and sadistic mockery in our time. Vigilantes of the so-called Sangh Parivar get away with violence and incitement under the noses of the police, whilst cases are fabricated against activists fighting for human rights and democratic… Read More Pinjra Tod activist Natasha Narwal's father dies of Covid day before her bail hearing // That Monday will not come, Judge Sahib

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Suhas Palshikar: A monumental failure of governance // ‘There should be no clampdown on information, people can voice grievances on social media’: Supreme Court

NB: The only caveat I have to make on this incisive comment refers to the (admittedly conditional) phrase: “instances that must haunt any ruler left with an iota of conscience.” Our rulers do not have an iota of conscience. Within days of the latest lockdown, the RSS general secretary was talking about anti-national forces conspiring to… Read More Suhas Palshikar: A monumental failure of governance // ‘There should be no clampdown on information, people can voice grievances on social media’: Supreme Court

Dilip

Election Commission responsible for spreading Covid-19, should probably be booked for murder: Madras HC // Bharat Bhushan on the departing CJI: Good riddance

NB: It is unusual that we be required to thank judges for doing their duty; the reason is that over the recent past, we have become accustomed to the opposite. Spineless behavior has become the norm, broken only occasionally, as in the release order on Disha Ravi, or the Delhi HC’s order to the Delhi… Read More Election Commission responsible for spreading Covid-19, should probably be booked for murder: Madras HC // Bharat Bhushan on the departing CJI: Good riddance

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan: Burden of bigotry may break Indian democracy's back

Two recent events suggest that the Indian Republic could be hurtling down a slippery slope. Both relate to Uttar Pradesh but have national consequences. One is the Varanasi court judgement opening up the Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque dispute. The other comes from adjoining Allahabad where the High Court has red-flagged the misuse of the National Security Act.… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Burden of bigotry may break Indian democracy's back

Dilip

SC stands up for voicing disapproval, backs editor Patricia Mukhim

Expressing disapproval of a government’s action “cannot be branded as an attempt to promote hatred between different communities”, the Supreme Court said Thursday while quashing an FIR against Patricia Mukhim, the editor of Shillong Times, over a social media post about an incident of assault on some non-tribal youth in Meghalaya last year. A bench of… Read More SC stands up for voicing disapproval, backs editor Patricia Mukhim

Dilip

The Modi Government Is a Regime of Low-Intensity Terror. By Ullekh N.P.

Not many academics have studied Hindu nationalism with the intensity of Stanford University anthropologist Thomas Blom Hansen. The 63-year-old’s new book, The Law of Force: The Violent Heart of Indian Politics, argues that anger and brutality have become mainstream in public life and politics in India. The 176-page volume delves into what Hansen calls “the emergence of… Read More The Modi Government Is a Regime of Low-Intensity Terror. By Ullekh N.P.

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Nagraj Adve: Coming of Age of India’s Youth Climate Movement

The arrest in February of Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old member of the climate change organisation Fridays for Future (FFF) India, on charges including sedition and criminal conspiracy, and warrants issued against two members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) India, Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, have severely jolted innumerable climate activists, students, and other young people in… Read More Nagraj Adve: Coming of Age of India’s Youth Climate Movement

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BJP MP moves privilege motion against TMC’s Mahua Moitra for comments against former CJI

“The sacred cow that was the judiciary is no longer sacred,” Moitra had said. “It stopped being sacred the day a sitting chief justice of this country was accused of sexual harassment, presided over his own trial, cleared himself and then proceeded to accept a nomination to the Upper House of Parliament within three months… Read More BJP MP moves privilege motion against TMC’s Mahua Moitra for comments against former CJI

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